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MINUTES 



On Saturday, the 10th day of April, 1915, at 11 A. M., 
the North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati held its Annual 
Meeting in the parlor of the Hotel Lafayette, at Fayetteville, 
North Carolina. 

Present: 

Hon. Wilson Gray L,amb, President. 

Mr. John Collins Daves, Vice-Presideyit. 

Mr. Marshall DeLancey Haywood, Secretary. 

Mr. Walter DeLyle Carstarphen, Treasurer. 

Mr. John Bradley Lord, Assistant Secretary. 

Mr. Bennehan Cameron, Assistant Treasurer. 

Right Rev. Joseph Blount Cheshire, Chaplain. 

Brigadier-General Charles Lukens Davis, U. S. A. 

Medical Director Nelson MacPherson Ferebee, U. S. N. 

Commodore William Stetson Hogg, U. S. N. 

Mr. Samuel A' Court Ashe. 

Mr. Haywood Clark. 

Mr. Walter Wellington Watt. 

Hon. Oliver Hicks Harrison Allen. 

Dr. Henry Andrews Cotten. 

Mr. James Boyd. 

Hon. James Dobbin McNeill, of the Delaware Society. 

Mr. William Fitzhugh Williams, of the Virginia Society. 

The meeting was called to order by the President, Mr. 
Lamb, and prayer was offered by the Chaplain, Bishop 

231 



• •/ 

Cheshire. The Original Institution of the Order was then 
read by General Davis. The Minutes of the last Annual 
Meeting of the Society were read and approved. The Minutes 
of the proceedings of the Standing Committe, since the last 
meeting of the SocietJ^ were read and approved. 

Then the President, Mr. Lamb, spoke as follows : 
Gentlemen oe the Society: 

I congratulate the Society that we have the privilege of holding our 
Annual Meeting in this historic city. It was here that the army of the 
Royalists was embodied, and from here — the home of Flora MacDonald 
— that it marched to overwhelming defeat by the patriots at Moore's 
Creek Bridge. Believing that their oath of allegiance to the British 
King bound them to maintain the authority of the Crown, these Loyal- 
ists ventured all in defense of the right of the Mother Country to govern 
the Colonies. While we cannot approve their mistaken judgment, we 
are free to admire their recognition of what they believed to be their 
solemn obligations. It must not be understood that this section was 
exclusively Tory, for among our .Cincinnati membership today are the 
descendants of Hadley, Porterfield, and others who fought and bled to 
establish the independence of our country. 

It was here in 1789 that the Federal Constitution was ratified, there- 
by making North Carolina a State of the American Union. The city 
bears the name of America's greatest friend — the incomparable champion 
of Liberty, the Marquis de Lafayette, who visited this city on a tour late 
in his life. 

No city in North Carolina has a more splendid reputation for gener- 
ous "Southern hospitality," and, judging by the courtesies already 
extended to us, I am sure our stay will be most happy and pleasant. 

The Hon. James Dobbin McNeill, Mayor of the City of 
Faj^etteville, and a member of the Delaware Society, was then 
introduced and welcomed the Societ)^ to Fayetteville, express- 
ing his pleasure that this city had been chosen as the place for 
the present meeting, where the original Society had met on 
July 5, 1784 and July 4, 1785. 

Mr. McNeill having called the attention of the Society to 
the patriotic resolutions passed by the Cape Fear Patriots at 
"lyiberty Point," Fayetteville, North Carolina, June 20th, 
1775, it was ordered that the same be spread on the Minutes 
as a memorial of the patriotism of the signers. These Reso- 
lutions were as follows : 

232 



The actual commencement of hostilites against the Continent by the 
British troops, in the bloody scene on the 19th of April last, near Boston, 
the increase of arbitrary impositions from a wicked and despotic Ministry, 
and the dread of instigated insurrections in the colonies, are causes 
sufficient to drive an oppressed people to the use of arms. We, therefore, 
the subscribers, of Cumberland Count}', holding ourselves bound by the 
most sacred of all obligations, the duty of good citizens toward an 
injured country, and thoroughly convinced, that, under our distressed 
circumstances, we shall be justified in resisting force by force, do unite 
ourselves under every tie of religion and honor, and associate as a baad'' 
in her defence against every foe, hereby solemnly engaging that when- 
ever our Continental or Provincial Councils shall decree it necessary, we 
will go forth and be read}' to sacrefice our lives and fortunes to secure 
her freedom and safety. This obligation to continue in full force until 
a reconciliation shall take place between Great Britain and America, upon 
constitutional principles, an event we most ardently desire; and we will 
hold all those persons inimical to the liberty of the colonies, who shall 
refuse to subscribe to this Association; and we will in all things follow 
the advice of our General Committee respecting the purposes aforesaid, 
the preservation of peace and good order and the safety of individual 
and private property. 

Signed : 

Theophilus Evans, 

Thomas Moody, 

Jos. De L/espind, 

Arthur Council, 

John Oliver, 

Charles Stevens, 

William Herrin, 

Robert Verner, 

David Dunn, 

Simon Banday, 

John Jones, 

Robert Council, 



Robert Rowan, 
Lewis Barge, 
Maurice Nowlan, 
Lewis Powell, 
Martin Leonard, 
George Fletcher, 
Walter Murray, 
David Evans, 
John Elwell, 
Joseph Green, 
Robert Green, 
Robert Carver, 
Samuel Hollingsworth, 



Samuel Carver, 
David Shepard, 
Micajah Farrell, 
John Wilson, 
James Emmet, 
Aaron Vardey, 
John Parker, 
Philip Herrin, 
James Gee, 
Wm. White, 
Joshua Hadley, 
William Blocker. 
William Carver. 



The Standing Committee having favorably considered the 
applications for membership of the following named gentlemen , 
and their names being separately presented for confirmation 
and admission to the Society, they were duly admitted as 
members of the Society, in accordance with Section 2 of 
Article II. of the By-Laws : 

John Gray Blount, of Memphis, Tenn., great-great- 
grandson of Colonel Jacob Blount, Original Member. 



233 



Ernest Mathews Green, of New Bern, N. C, great- 
grandson of Lieutenant Joseph Green, Rule of 1854. 

WiLUAM McRee, of St. Louis, Mo., great-grandson of 
Major Griffiith John McRee, Original Member. 

Bennett Dunlap Nelme, of Anson ville, N. C, great- 
great-grandnephew of Lieutenant-Colonel James Ingram, 
Died in the Service. 

Porter Grier Polk, of Danville, Pa., great-great- 
grandnephew of Lieutenant Thomas Polk, Died in the Service. 

Sterling Clack Robertson, of Phoenix, Ariz., great- 
great-grandnephew of Major Charles Robertson, Rule of 1854. 

William Alexander Smith, of Anson ville, N. C, 
great-great-grandson of Lieutenant Hugh Montgomery, Died 
in the Service. 

The Treasurer, Mr. Carstarphen, submitted the following 
Report : 

Plymouth, North Carolina, 

February 22, 1915. 
North Carolina vSocirtv of the Cincinnati : 

Gentlemen — Your Treasurer would submit to you the following 
financial report of the Society : 

Principal. 

February 22, 1914— Cash on hand $ 417.75 

February 22, 1915— Entrance Fees received 567.25 

Total cash $ 985.00 

May 6, 1914— Cost of Bond purchased 875.00 

Balance cash on hand $ 110.00 



The purchase of the above Bond was authorized by the Standing 
Committee. This is a $1,000 Bond of the Athens Terminal Co., first 
mortgage, interest 5 per cent., payable January and July, and matures 
July 1, 1937. 

234 



Permanen't Fund. 

5 Bonds, State of Virginia, 3%, Registered g5, 000.00 

2 Bonds, United Railways and Electric Co., 4%, Registered 2,000.00 

2 Bonds, Seaboard Air lyine Railway Co., 4%, Registered 2,000.00 

1 Bond, Colorado and Southern Railway Co., 4^, Registered 1,000.00 

1 Bond, Atlantic Coast Line Railway Co., 4% 1,000.00 

1 Bond, Annapolis Gas and Electric Light Co., 5% 1,000.00 

1 Bond, Northwestern Terminal Railway Co., 5% 1,000.00 

1 Bond, Athens Terminal Co., 5^ 1,000.00 

Deposit in Saving Bank of Baltimore 110.00 



$14,110.00 
Income. 

February 22, 1914— Cash on hand _ $ 61.75 

February 22, 1915— Amount received during the year 593.67 



Total cash $655.42 

February 22, 1915— Amount expended $369.08 

Amount transiferred to the Triennial Fund 200.00 

569.08 



Balance cash on hand | 86.34 



There was $200 transferred from income to the Triennial Fund for 
the fiscal year ending February 22, 1915. The amount was deposited in 
the Central Savings Bank of Baltimore and the annual interest on this 
fund at 3^ per cent., amounted to $50.16. 

TrienniaIv Fund. 
February 22, 1915— Central Savings Bank of Baltimore $1,626.02 



There was a $100 contribution received from a member of the Society 
to be applied toward the expenses of our Society in entertaining the 
General Society, at Asheville in May of 1917, and it is hoped that many 
more members will during this year make contributions toward this 
fund, which will be designated "Special Triennial Fund." The above 
amount was deposited in the Mercantile Trust and Deposit Co. of Balti- 
more, and the interest on the above fund, to date at 3 per cent., amounts 
to $1.40. 

Speciai^ Triennial Fund. 
February 22, 1915— Mercantile Trust and Deposit Co. of Balto $101.40 



The following were the amounts of the Permanent Funds of the 
Thirteen State Societies, as reported to the meeting of the General 
Society, at Baltimore, May 13, 1914 : 

235 



Pennsylvania $82,284.70 Continued Existence. 

Massachusetts 74,493.75 Continued Existence. 

New York 47,000.00 Continued Existence. 

New Jersey 26,000.00 Continued Existence. 

Virginia 21,272.42 Reorganized July 26, 1889. 

Connecticut 18,000.00 Reorganized July 4, 1888. 

Rhode Island 15,190.37 Reorganized December 12, 1877. 

North Carolina .... 14,000.00 Reorganized April 4, 1896. 

Maryland 9,000.00 Continued Existence. 

(10) New Hampshire.. 7,015.50 Reorganized July 4, 1896. 

(11) South Carolina .... 6,100.00 Continued Existence. 

(12) Delaware 2,785.00 Reorganized February 22, 1895. 

(13) Georgia 2,363.00 Reorganized March 4, 1899. 

Total $325,504.74 



It is shown that North Carolina stood eighth in the Thirteen 
State Societies, among which six have had continued existence and 
seven have been reorganized. Since the Triennial of 1911, when the 
fund of the North Carolina Society amounted to $12,382.15, it has in- 
creased by the amount of $1,617.85. 

I submit herewith written report of Auditing Committee. 
Very respectfully, > 

Walter D. Carstarphkn, Treasurer. 

Messrs. Bartlett S. Johnston and H. Ashton Ramsay, the 
Auditing Committee, appointed by the President of the 
Society, reported in writing that they had examined the 
accounts of the Treasurer, and the securities in his charge, 
and found same to be correct. The report was accepted. 

The Vice-President, Mr. Daves, read the following report 
on membership : 

Faykttevihe, North Carolina, 

April 10, 1915. 
North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati: 

Gentlemen — Since the North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati 
was reorganized at Raleigh, North Carolina, on 4th April, 1896, there 
have been admitted to date above, inclusive, the following members: 

Original. 

Members admitted to the Society 87 

Less dead* 25 

Members at present in the Society 62 

236 



All of the 65 known original members of the Society are now repre- 
sented in it with the exception of the rights of Lieutenant Robert Hays, 
and of Major Reading Blount, which are held in abeyance for minor 
heirs, and that of Lieutenant Thomas Clark, whose representative died 
just before the meeting. 

DiEB IN the; Service. 

Members admitted to the Society 26 

Less dead 6 

Members at present in the Society 20 

RUI.E OF 1854. 

Members admitted to the Society 56 

Less dead 6 

Members at present in the Society 50 

Hereditary Membership. 

Original Member Rights 62 

Died in the Service Rights _ 20 

Rule of 1854 Rights 50 

Total 132 

Honorary Membership. 

Members elected by the Society 9 

Less 2 dead and 3 transferred to hereditary membership 5 

Members at present in the Society 4 

The following were the numbers of the hereditary members of the 
Thirteen State Societies, as reported to the meeting of the General 
Society at Baltimore, Md., May 13, 1914: 



(1 
(2 
(3 
(4 
(5 
(6 
(7 
(8 
(9 
(10 

(11 
(12 
(13 



Virginia 137 Reorganized July 26, 1889. 

North Carolina 128 Reorganized April 4, 1896. 

Massachusetts 110 Continued Existence. 

New York 86 Continued Existence. 

Maryland 71 Continued Existence. 

New Jersey 69 Continued Existence. 

Rhode Island 68 Reorganized December 12,1877. 

Connecticut 57 Reorganized July 4, 1888. 

Pennsylvania 55 Continued Existence. 

South Carolina 51 Continued Existence. 

New Hampshire 48 Reorganized July 4, 1896. 

Delaware 30 Reorganized February 22, 1895. 

Georgia 29 Reorganized March 4, 1899. 

Total 939 

237 



It is thus shown that North Carolina with its 128 members stood 
second in the Thirteen State Societies, among which six have had con- 
tinued existence and seven were reorganized, a gratifying increase since 
the Triennial of 1911, when North Carolina stood second with a mem- 
bership of 117. 

Respectfull}' submitted, 

John C. Daves, Vice-President. 

Mr. Bennehan Cameron, the Chairman of the Triennial 
Committee, reported that on account of the great war abroad 
and the financial disturbance, which it had brought about in 
the United States and especially in the South, it was thought 
best not to send out a circular letter to our members, asking 
their financial aid for the Triennial Meeting in Asheville, in 
May of 1917, until after our Annual Meeting in April of 1916. 
The report was approved. 

The Secretary, Mr, Haywood, having discovered the fol- 
lowing petition in the archives of the State, read it to the 
Society, which ordered it printed in the Minutes. This pe- 
tition was presented to the Legislature of 1784, which however 
took no action on it. 

To THE Honourable the General Assembly 
OF the State oe North Carolina. 

The humble Petition and Remonstrance of 
sundry of the Inhabitants of Chatham County 
Sheweth, That your Petitioners are very much alarmed at a Mode 
lately Instituted by the Officers of the late Continental Army Whereby 
they are to be a Distinct Society or Order by the Name of Cincinnati 
which we conceive to be inconsistant with our Republican Principles, 
and will naturally tend to create individious distinctions, and in the 
end, will finally produce a Race of Hereditary Patricians and Nobility. 
And as these Officers were taken from among the Mass of the People 
formerly without distinction We wish them to return again to be com- 
mon Citizens without appropriating all the Glory and Honour of the 
late happy Revolution to themselves; And we think it a mark of ex- 
treme Pride in them to wish, or desire any distinction more than a 
Common Free Citizen of America which (together with the Laurels they 
have won) we think is a Name sufficient to Compensate for any service 
they, or any other set of Men on the Globe could perform; And as we 
are informed they are determined to solicit your Honorable Body for a 
Charter the more to make it paramount and binding on Us. We there- 
fore pray you will not grant to that Society any Charter, or distinction 

238 



of Honour more than any of the Militia of this State, whose Ivives and 
Fortunes were equally exposed to the Ravages of the Enemy and dis- 
tresses of a long Expensive & Calamitous War. And as the delay of 
suppressing or discountenancing so presumptions a design may be at- 
tended with dangerous Consequences. 

We therefore humbly hope so dangerous an innovation of our 
Liberty's may be immediately .subverted and that your Honrs. will forth- 
with Annihilate the same and not postpone it for future Consideration 
But that your Honrs. out of your great Wisdom will take the premisses 
into Consideration and adopt such measures as may for ever hereafter 
secure the peace Tranquility and happiness of our State and prevent any 
of the membei s of the aforesaid Order from holding or Enjoying any 
Post of Honour or Profit. 

And your Petrs. as in duty bound 
will ever pray, &c. &c. 

The Vice-President, Mr. Daves, asked leave to have the 
following also printed in the Minutes, which was approved. 

Extract^ Journals of Cojigress, 
Vol. III., P. 657. Ed. 1823. 

Monday, August 13, 1781. 

Congress took into consideration a report of the Board of War of 
the 20th July; and thereupon. 

Ordered, That the Board of War draw warrants on the Pay-Master 
General in favor of the several officers of the Army of these States, 
lately prisoners of v/ar in South Carolina and Georgia, for six months 
nominal pay in the new emission. 

In consequence of this order of Congress, Captain John Daves, on 
duty ivith his regiment in North Carolifia, where, shortly after the 
Battle of Eutaw Springs, it had beeti sent to hold in check the Tories, 
who had become troublesome and had carried off Gov. Burke from Hills- 
boro, was se7it to Philadelphia by his brother officers to collect their 
much needed backpay. Arrived at Philadelphia he addressed the fol- 
owing letter to the President of Congress : 

State Records of North Carolina, 
Vol. XVII., P. 1050-1053 

PhUvAdblphia, Dec. 6th, 1781. 
Sir : 

In consequence of the Resolution of Congress of the 13th of Aug- 
ust, directing six months nominal pay to the officers lately prisoners of 
war in South Carolina and Georgia, I have come from North Carolina 
for the purpose of receiving the same for the officers of that State; and 
on application to the Secretary at War, find that he does not think him- 
self authorized to grant warrants, as the execution of this resolution was 
vested in the Board of War. 

239 



I beg the favour of your Excellency to lay this matter before Con- 
gress for their determination therein. 

My expenses coming here have been great, particularly to me, who 
am an officer, and they are accumulating daily in this expensive city, so 
that should there be a difficulty in this matter, and I should not get my 
portion, agreeably to the above resolution I should not be able either 
to stay here or to return . 

Your Excellency and Congress will please to excuse me for giving 
them this trouble. 

I am with sincere regard. Sir, 

Your Excellency's ob't. humble servant, 
John Daves, 
Captaitt in 2nd N. C. Battalion. 
His Excellency 

The President of Congress. 

There is no direct reply to this letter, but a few days after it was 
written the following very discouragitig resolution was passed by Con- 
gress •■ 

Friday, December 14, 1781. 

On a report of the Secretary at War, to whom was referred sundry 
applications of particular officers, 

Resolved, That in future no particular warrants be issued in favor of 
any officers in actual service in the Line of any State, for pay or sub- 
sistence, but that at all times they draw their pay and subsistence with 
the regiment to which they respectively belong, from the Paymaster of 
such regiment. 

In response to this Captain Daves makes a manly and pathetic 
appeal as fol'ows: 

Philadelphia, 14th Dec, 1781. 
Sir: 

The petition I laid before Congress the other day in behalf of the 
officers of the State of North Carolina, and referred to that body by the 
Secretary at War, appears to me not to have been acted upon agreeably 
to the instructions of Congress, so far as the same respects myself, and 
therefore I am necessitated to state the matter to them anew: 

In consequence of the resolution of the 13th of August, directing 
the six months pay to the officers lately prisoners in South Carolina and 
Georgia, I came here from North Carolina to receive the proportion for 
the officers of that State. Now as Congress have seen fit to repeal the 
said resolution, it will be exceedingly hard and distressing to me, who 
have been so long a prisoner, and who have travelled four hundred and 
fifty miles to receive the supplies promised bj' Congress, and to be dis- 
appointed. It could not be supposed that the three months real pay was 
an object to draw me here, but as I am disappointed in obtaining the 

240 



supply for the other officers, it is an object of importance to receive it 
as without it I shall not be able to return. 

I hope Congress will order this provision for me, my situation be- 
ing widely different from one who comes to solicit them for favors. I 
came for what had been promised, and not to solicit anything anew; 
and, Sir, as it is judged best for the welfare of the whole to repeal the 
resolution, I beg that Congress would allow me so much as will bear my 
expenses back to Carolina in any way they approve. I am unhappy 
upon being informed that the principal difficulty in this matter is in 
setting a precedent which Congress must avoid; but, Sir, I hope it will 
be remembered that the resolution of the 13th of August drew me here, 
and in consequence thereof I am compelled to this measure. 

I pray your Bxcellency to excuse the trouble of this second letter, 
which I beg you to lay before Congress. 

I am, with due respect, Sir, 

Your Excellency's most ob't servant, 
John Daves, 
Captain North Carolina Line. 
His Excellency 

The President of Congress. 

It does not appear that action of any kind, whether favorable or 
otherwise, was had on this appeal. 

The decease of three members of the Society, since its 
last Annual Meeting, being reported, the following Memorials 
were ordered spread upon the Minutes : 

John Gray Blount, 

Born at "San Souci," Washington, N. C, 20th November, 1831. 

Died at Washington, N. C, 18th December, 1914. 

Great-grandson of Colonel Jacob Blount, Deputy Paymaster-General, 

Continental Army, an Original Member. 

Major Blount was one of the revivers of the dormant North Carolina 

Society, at Raleigh, on April 4, 1896, and one of its charter members. 

He was the eldest son of Thomas Harvey Blount and Elizabeth Mutter 

Blount, who was the eldest son of John Gray Blount and Mary Harvey, 

who was the second son of Colonel Jacob Blount and Barbara Gray. 

In his youth, as well as in the later years, Major Blount was a 
notably handsome man, of fine carriage, great courtesy and refinement 
of manner, a typical gentleman of the old school. He was extremely 
popular, and beloved by his contemporaries, most of whom have long 
since passed to their reward. 

Major Blount was educated at the best schools of the time, and at 
an early age entered upon a mercantile career. He resided in New York 
city for a number of years where he was associated in business with a 

241 



well-known firm — one of the closest friends of his early manhood was 
Mr. Stephen I/uynes of that city. 

Leaving that city he came to his native town and engaged in busi- 
ness and enjoyed a well-earned prosperity until the Civil War, with its 
disastrous effect swept away most of his fortune, along with unnum- 
bered others. At the beginning of hostilities, Major Blount entered the 
services of the Confederate States, October 21, 1861, as Quartermaster, 
with rank of lieutenant, in Rodman's Artillery, of which the late Judge 
William Blount Rodman, his cousin was captain. Later on he was pro- 
moted to major and served with other commands until the close of the 
war. His service to the State and to the Confederacy was faithful and 
honored. After 1865, he again entered the mercantile circle of the town, 
but in 1874 he was elected to the office of Clerk of the Court of Beaufort 
County, which office he filled acceptably for a number of years. After 
this he became associated with the Hon. Chas. F. Warren as clerk in his 
law office. The careful pains-taking work done by Major Blount in both 
these positions has never been excelled, and are monuments to his in- 
dustry, neatness, dispatch and faithful zeal. It has often been said that 
the Clerk's office was never so neatly kept as during the administration 
of Major Blount. 

December 12, 1853, he married Elizabeth, the beautiful and accom^ 
plished daughter of Mr. David B. Perry, a wealthy planter of Beaufort 
County. Their married life was long and peculiarly happy. Mrs. 
Blount preceded her husband to the Great Beyond a few years ago, and 
since that time, in his declining years he has been most tenderly minis- 
tered unto by his resident daughters, especially by the youngest, Miss 
Margaret Blount, who rarely left his side. 

He is survived by two sons, Mr. David P. Blount, of Norfolk, Va.; 
Mr. John G. Blount, Jr., of Memphis, Tenn. — his eldest son, Thomas 
H. Blount, died some years ago in Birmingham, and by his daughters, 
Mrs. Chas. F. Warren, Mrs. John K. Hoyt, Miss Mary Blount and Miss 
Margaret Blount, of this city; numerous grandchildren, among whom 
are Mr. Frederick Warren, a brilliant journalist of Chicago, and Mr. 
Lindsay Warren, a promising young attorney of tins city. Mrs. James 
K. Hatton, one of our most loved citizens, is a surviving sister; the late 
Dr. W. A. Blount and Mr. Thomas H. Blount were his younger brothers. 
It was granted to Major Blount to enjoy in a large measure the esteem 
and good will of his fellowmen throughout a well-spent life. 

John Myers Blount, 
Born at Washington, N. C, 16th October, 1839. 
Died at Cooleemee, N. C, 19th January, 1915. 
Grandson of Major Reading Blount, 2nd Regiment North Carolina Con- 
tinental Infantry, an Original Member. 
Mr. Blount was one of the revivers of the dormant North Carolina 
Society of the Cincinnati at Raleigh on April 4, 1896, and one of its 

242 



charter members. He was the eldest son of Wiley Blount and Deliah 
Blackmore, who was the eldest son of Major Reading Blount and Lucy 
Harvey. 

Mr. Blount served in the Confederate Army, throughout the Civil 
War, he settled at Mocksville, N. C. , where he was elected Mayor of the 
town, then he moved to Cooleemee and was the Recorder of the town. 
He left a widow, two daughters and one son, John Myers Blount, now 
15 years old. 

The following sketch of his propositus. Major Reading Blount, 
written by our Secretary, Mr. Marshall Del/ancey Haywood, is from the 
Biographical History of North Carolina, being reprinted by permission 
of the publisher of that work, Charles L. Van Noppen, of Greensboro, 
N. C: 

Reading Blount. 

One of North Carolina's distinguished Revolutionary officers, serv- 
ing as Major in the Continental Line, was Reading Blount. After peace 
had returned, this gentleman's service in the militia troops of the State 
gained for him the rank of Major-General. 

He was a native of the County of Beaufort, and was born on the 
2.?nd of February, 1757, in that part of Beaufort which was later erected 
into a new county and called Pitt. The latter county was established 
when he was a child three years old, and hence his earliest recorded 
services designate him as a citizen of Pitt, though he afterwards re- 
moved to the town of Washington, in that part of the original county 
which still bore the name of Beaufort. The family of Blount, as else- 
where noted in this work, is generally regarded as having been seated in 
North Carolina at an earlier time than any other family whose surname 
is now extant. 

Reading Blount was a son of Colonel Jacob Blount, Paymaster of 
North Carolina Troops in the Revolutionary War, by his first wife, Bar- 
bara Gray, of Bertie County. Colonel Jacob Blount was a son of Thomas 
Blount, whose wife was Anne Reading. Thomas Blount also had a son 
named Reading, uncle of the subject of this sketch. Thomas, the 
elder, settled in the vicinity of what is now Beaufort County about 1673. 
He is thought to have been a younger brother of James Blount, who 
settled in Chowan Precinct in 1669. 

The subject of the present sketch, Reading Blount, was only nine- 
teen years old when the Provincial Congress of North Carolina elected 
him a Captain, on the 16th of April, 1776. On the day following, he 
was mustered into the Fifth North Carolina Continental Regiment, com- 
manded by Colonel Edward Buncombe. This regiment fought in the 
operations against Sir Henry Clinton in the winter of 1776-1777; and in 
the spring of 1777 marched northward and joined Washington's main 
army. At Brandy wine, on September 11th, and at Germantown on 
October 4th, the Fifth Regiment was engaged; and in the latter battle 

243 



its brigade commander, General Francis Nash, together with Colonel 
Buncombe and L/ieutenant-Colonel Henry Irwin, both of the Fifth, 
Captain Jacob Turner of the Third, and Lieutentant John McCann of the 
Sixth Regiment, were all either killed on the field or mortally wounded, 
while many other oflELcers were wounded less seriously. Colonel Bun- 
combe was also taken prisoner, dying in captivity. The Fifth Regiment 
having lost its two principal officers, and other regiments being greatly 
reduced, the North Carolina Troops were re-arranged shortly thereafter; 
and, on the 12th of May, 1778, Captain Blount was promoted to the rank 
of Major, being then assigned to the Second Continental Regiment, 
under the command of Colonel John Patten. Like Blount, Colonel 
Patten was a citizen of Beaufort County. 

After creditable services in the northern campaigns, Major Blount 
was ordered southward; and we next find him as one of the battalion 
commanders at the Battle of Eutaw Springs, in South Carolina, on the 
8th of September, 1781, where he distinguished himself under the 
leadership of Brigadier-General Jethro Sumner. Major Blount remained 
in the army until mustered out at the close of the war. He was one of 
the original members of the North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati, as 
was also his father. Paymaster Jacob Blount. 

At the sessions of 1786 and 1787, Major Blount represented Pitt 
County in the North Carolina House of Commons. He later removed his 
residence to Beaufort County. On December 12, 1800, the Legislature 
elected him Major-General of the First Division of the Militia of North 
Carolina. 

General Blount's wife was Lucy Harvey, daughter of Colonel Miles 
Harvey (son of the patriot John Harvey), and he has many descendants 
now living. 

The death of General Reading Blount occurred at Washington in 
Beaufort County, North Carolina, on the 13th of October, 1807. 

DbLancby Astor Kank, LL.B., U. S. M. A. 
Late Second Lieutenant, United States Army. 
Born at Newport, R. I., 28th August, 1844. 
Died at New Rochelle, N. Y., 4th April, 1915. 
Collateral representative of Lieutenant Thomas Clark, 4th Regiment 
North Carolina Continental Infantry, an Original Member. 
DeLancey Astor Kane was admitted to the Society February 22, 
1904, he was the second son of DeLancey Kane and Louisa Langdon, 
who was the second son of Oliver Kane and Eliza Clark, who was the 
eldest daughter of John Innes Clark and Lydia Bowen, who was the 
third son of Thomas Clark, Sr. and Barbara Murray, who was the father 
of James Clark, who was the father of Lieutenant Thomas, who was 
unmarried. 

The following article about our late member is taken from the ' 'New 
York Times:" 

244 



Colonel Delvancy Astor Kane, the sportsman, who has been credit- 
ed with being the father of coaching in America, died last night at his 
home, "Davenport Neck," New Rochelle. 

Colonel Kane was graduated from the United States Militarj' Acad- 
emy at West Point in 1868 and was a Lieutenant in the First Cavalry, 
U. S. A., from 1868 to 1870. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, 
England, and was graduated in 1873 from the Columbia Law School in 
this city. Colonel Kane married Eleanora Iselin, daughter of Adrian 
Iselin, of New York, and they had one child, DeL,ancey Iselin Kane. 

With the late Colonel William Jay Colonel Kane founded the 
Coaching Club of New York in 1876. He had acquired his fondness for 
horses while in the Cavalry and his taste for coaching during his stay in 
England. One Spring in the early seventies Colonel Kane and Colonel 
Jay were strolling down Fourth Avenue when they passed a carriage 
maker's establishment, according to the story told of the founding of 
the club, and noticed an old-fashioned driving coach outside. They 
bought it immediately. Colonel Jay procured a thoroughbred horse 
Colonel Kane supplied the other from his family stock. A cab horse 
and another completed the quartet with which the two started the first 
private coach and four seen in Fifth Avenue. 

The Kanes trace their ancestry back to the days of Queen Eliza- 
beth and her successors, when the ancient family of nobles bearing the 
name of O'Kane was deprived of its extensive lands in County London- 
derry and part of County Antrim, Ireland. John O'Kane came to this 
country in 1752, and dropped the prefix from his name. At the time of 
the Revolution he lived on his estate, Sharyvogne, Dutchess County, 
N. Y., and being a Royalist, was included in the confiscation directed 
against supporters of that cause. He lost all his property and returned 
to England with his brother, Captain Kane, who hadser/ed in the Roy- 
alist forces in the war. John Kane's eldest son, John, Jr., stayed in 
this country and became one of New York's foremost merchants. 

One of his sons was J. Grenville Kane, long secretar)' of the Union 
Club. The second son, Elisha Kane, married a daughter of General 
Robert Van Renssaler. Among the descendants of the family's differ- 
ent branches have been many men of distinction, including Judge John 
K. Kane of the United States District Court in Pennsylvania; Dr. Elisha 
Kent Kane, the arctic explorer, and General Thomas Lawrence Kane, 
commander of the Pennsylvania Bucktail Brigade in the Civil War. 

Colonel DeLancey Astor Kane's father was DeLancey Kane, and liis 
mother before her marriage was Louisa Langdon, whose mother was 
Dorothea Astor, daughter of the first John Jacob Astor. 

His wife, who inherited a large fortune, was a Catholic, and the 
Colonel was converted to that faith in 1897, although he had been a 
vestryman of Trinity Church in New Rochelle. He became a member 
of St. Gabriel's Catholic Church in New Rochelle, which was built by 

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his mother-in-law, Mrs. Adrian Iselin, Sr., at a cost of |200,000. His 
title of Colonel came to him as a member of the Governor's staff. 

Colonel Kane was a member of the Union, Metropolitan, Knicker- 
bocker, Country, Coaching, New York Yacht, and Larchmont Yacht 
Clubs. 

By a resolution unanimously adopted, the Secretary was 
directed to cast the ballot of the meeting for the following 
officers, etc., of the Society: 

Officers — President, Wilson Gray Lamb; Vice-Presi- 
dent, John Collins Daves; Secretary, Marshall DeLancey 
Haywood; Treasurer, Walter DeLyle Carstarphen; Assistant 
Secretary, John Bradley Lord; Assistant Treasurer, Bennehan 
Cameron; and Chaplain, Right Rev. Joseph Blount Cheshire. 

General Society of the Order — Delegates, Wilson 
Gray Lamb, Charles Lukens Davis, U. S. A., Bennehan 
Cameron, Walter DeLyle Carstarphen, and John Bradley 
Lord. Alternates, William Hall Harris, James Alston Cabell, 
William Eve Bush, Walter Wellington Watt, and Nelson 
MacPherson Ferebee, U. S. N. 

Member of the Standing Executive Committee of 
THE General Society— John Collins Daves. 

No further business coming before the meeting, it ad- 
journed si7ie die. 

Marshall DeLancey Haywood, 

Secretary. 



Note. — After the adjourntnent of the meeting, Mr. McNeill 
entertained the members with aii afternoon aidom.obile ride to 
points of interests in Fayetteville and its vicinity. The annual 
dinner of the Society was held in the evening at the Hotel Lafay- 
ette. 

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